Genius Hour - Concluding thoughts

I really took in a lot of information in the past few weeks, and I am glad I looked into this topic. Like I said before this topic of mental health is very personal to me, and I know a lot of people go through similar thoughts and feelings. With all that I learned I think meditation and mindfulness is the most important.

I liked how Buddhism can give someone a reason as to why they feel the way they do. Now it does not seem like it is our fault we suffer so much inside. We can blame it on biology or society, but ultimately it is up to us whether we let it consume us. We are the masters of our minds, and if we learn to control and understand our emotion, it might help us have a better outlook on life.

I want to try and implement what I learned in the classroom when I begin to teach. I know schools have already implemented meditation and mindfulness in classrooms, but now that I understand the benefits, I feel more prepared to do so myself. I want students to learn at an early age that it is okay to feel and they should not be ashamed of emotion. However, they also need to understand that embracing emotions require control, and we can work on it and help one another out. Classrooms can feel like a safe environment where students are not afraid to take a minute for themselves to truly take in their experiences.

This Genius Hour project was really interesting to do, and I highly recommend to do it with your classes. This technology class I am enrolled in gave me this opportunity to do this research and I am thankful for it. I have learned a lot about incorporating technology in the classroom, and this bog is proof of that. I have learned some valuable skills for the class, and I encourage all teachers to keep up to date with technology!   

Genius hour - Not-Self

Now this may be hard to wrap your heads around, but this week I have learned a new theory that might help enlighten the way our minds work. We all have heard of the self, but the matter of fact is that it does not exist the way we think. Instead Buddhism would rather you reach your not self by looking at these five aggregates:

• Consciousness
• Form (body)
• Feeling
• Perception
• Mental Formations

Now if you look at these five aspects of ourselves one might realize that these are connecting to the Four Noble Truths as they can be referred to five aggregates of clinging. In reality we want what's best for ourselves and thrive on the good things. However this obsession can turn to wanting happiness for pleasure. We should not feel any pleasure from certain feeling, or the way we look. We have to concentrate on understanding why we feel it. If not we will never be satisfied. Although the five aggregates are what make a person, it is our goal to let them go. That is how we achieve the form of the not-self.

This is a strange concept for me to grasp, because to me it seems we are trying to liberate ourselves from our self. It almost sounds as though we should be least existent as possible. If we are not supposed to feel, or have opinions what kind of freedom do we achieve? This seems more a quest to nothingness then Nirvana. Nirvana is also somewhere you want to go when you pass away, so why achieve it when you are living? It seems wrong for a living being to want to go to a place that can lead to absolute nothing. Although I agree with some aspects of Buddhism, this one is just too extreme.

Maybe we are unhappy because we like the aspects of life and we gain pleasure from it, but is that not what we are taught to do. How can we erase our being so early in our lives? I bet the more happiness I acquire the more I yearn for more. It seems Buddhism is telling me to stop my quest from happiness and embrace whatever I am feeling. No need to be sad about being sad, just think about it. The more mindful you are the more you can control yourself. This requires a lot of discipline of our minds. All the urges you might have need to be suppressed in order to reach a form of not-self. This is not something the majority of people in western societies are ready to do. Buddhism is complicated, and it takes devotion to master it.

Genius Hour - Mindfulness and Meditation

 Meditation can be easy to do, but for some it may take some time. It is important not to give up right away even though your peers are seeing results right away. Like our bodies, our minds can adapt, it just takes some longer than others due to our biology. Meditation is about escaping discomfort, so it does not matter how you get there, it is the result that counts. There are many different types of meditation, so one may work for me and another may be best for you. What counts is that you are getting the benefits from that particular mediation. 

One example that was given was when you have an unwanted feeling like sadness or anger, you are sit down, and just say bring it on. Embrace the feeling and fully understand what your your sentiment. You do not have to close your eyes or be silent, but you have to really concentrate on what you are thinking. Meditation is partially reflection, as you need to know exactly what it is that you are suffering from. From this we can go deeper into the two types of meditation.

The first in concentration meditation where each breath is accounted for. You are to focus on one thing to keep you centered. this could be breath, mantra, or even an image. You feel a sort of bliss and have a proud moment of taking time to let go of your thoughts for a few moments. The key to this meditation is not to feel pleasure out of it, because it will cause you suffering. It should not be an addictive aspect in your life, but a calm understanding with  yourself.

The second form of meditation is mindfulness. This is a way to pay attention to your surroundings. Instead of concentrating on one aspect in life, you are now to focus on everything around you. For example if you go outside, and you listen to the sounds surrounding you, you might hear cars, then trees, and other animals you did not realize were there. This is a way to help control your thinking. If your are more aware, you can have more control. If you pay attention to all your feelings you are able to find a solution for some that may not be wanted. This control goes against our natural instincts, so it may not be easy, but it is a step towards a healthier point of view in life.

This is a really good understanding of what it means to really meditate. I will personally take into consideration the different techniques I can use, and maybe find one that works best for my needs. If you have any suggestions let me know!

Genius hour- The Four Noble Truths

This week I finished learning about the four Noble Truths. The first two are Buddha's diagnosis of the human predicament, and the last two are his prescriptions or cure to ail us.

The first is the truth of suffering. The goal in life according to Buddhism is to reach Nirvana, but this is because humans need to be liberated from this suffering. Linked to this truth is the word Dharma, which has many meanings on its own. First is it is the truth about the way things are and then in, and the truth about the way we should live in recognition of the way things are. There is also the theory that it represent the unseen order of our lives. Duhkka is another term referring to how we are unsatisfied with our lives. This is the reason we need things to make us happy and fulfilled, whether it be a doughnut, money, and even sex. Although these are pleasures we commonly seek, we have to live with knowing none of these are permanent.

This brings us to the second Noble Truth, the truth of the cause of suffering. Our cause is attachment whether it be for our social status or our own existence. This is saying that we should not crave or cling on to much and let go of our pleasures. Motivation comes from that little taste we get when our brain is satisfied for that split second. Eventually we do not think it is enough anymore so we are lost in a pursuit for more. We suffer because we cannot let go, and it is our society that has set us up for suffering. If we did not have to prepare for job interviews in fear of not making a good living, we would not stress as much. For me I think I need to let go of the pressure from others to be someone they want me to be. 

Next we have the third Noble Truth of Cessation of Suffering. This brings us to some good news on how to get rid of our suffering. This means we need to be able to not give into temptation and remain pure from greed. We need to be able to let go of those craving and learn to live without them. Now this is easier said then done because it is hard to do this in a western society. However the fourth Noble Truth provides the path to how this can be achieved. 

The Eightfold path is the last of the truths which helps guides us to a place of no suffering. The eight rights we need to concentrate for this path are: The right view, the right intention, the right speech, the right action, the right livelihood, the right effort, the right mindfulness, and the right concentration. These are all terms that we hear very often, as they are similar to our morals and values. For example, we know it is not nice to say mean things about someone. The last two rights are very important, as they are able to clear your mind so you can focus. Although most people who have devoted their life to Buddhism have not reached Nirvana through meditation, there is no doubt of the benefits it gives to your well-being. There is such thing as partial liberation as you may not be able to get rid of all of your suffering, but it can help eliminate some of it. 

These Four Noble Truths have opened up my eyes to the root of human suffering. It is the environment and your actions that can lead to your happiness or it could lead you astray. For your well-being it is important to stay true to your morals and not let anyone set you off your path. Personally I might take up meditation to help me come down from my daily stresses.

Genius Hour- Buddhism and Mental Health

It is time to discuss what I am doing for my genius hour project! Now you might be thinking, what is genius hour? Well it is a time where students explore a topic of their choosing and use their resources to answer their questions. This is all inquiry based and promoted self learning.

For my genius hour I chose to learn about Buddhism in modern psychology and how it relates to mental health. I know this may seem random, but it is a topic I have been wanting to explore for multiple reasons. The process of finding this topic was hard. I thought of many different projects, but did not know how to approach them. I finally found a great site called Cousera where there are free online courses from different well established universities. These courses do not count towards anything other than your benefit of learning something new. In this case I chose the course on Buddhism because it appealed to me the most.

Religion has always been a touchy subject because I really do not understand how people can follow only one practice when there are so many options in the world. Buddhism is not often talked about in schools and yet millions of people follow its teachings, so I wanted to know why. What benefits does this belief have that others don't? Will it improve my state of mind? Like most people I want control over my emotions, but is religion really the answer, or is it a separate  framework?

This week I learned out of all the Buddhist beliefs we are going to be focusing on scientific research that can help understand certain thoughts. The approach mixes a naturalist point of view with the scientific evolution of Buddhism. This could be good for me because it takes on a more secular point of view, although some may need that faith to help them with their moral orientation. Here are some key questions that made me become interested in this topic:

• Why do people suffer? 
• Why do we all feel anxiety? And sadness, and so on. 
• Why do people behave unkindly sometimes?  
• Does the human mind deceive people about the nature of reality? 
• And can we change the way the mind works? In particular, through meditation?

I have so many questions I want answered, and it is clear I am interested in this course. Hopefully I gain new insight and find some answers to my question. It is simple for teacher to recite information from textbooks, but the more you discover on your own, the more you will learn.


As a side note, I thought I would  share the professor's biography provided in Coursera, so you all can rest assured he is qualified to teach the subject. I hope you find my interpretation of his work to be helpful, but by all means I suggest hearing it from the man himself. Take a look at his course if this topic interests you!

About the Instructor

Robert Wright is Visiting Professor of Science and Religion at Union Theological Seminary in the City of New York. When he created this course in 2014, Wright was a visiting lecturer in Princeton University’s religion department and at the University’s Center for Human Values. He has also taught in the psychology department at Penn. He is the author, most recently, of The Evolution of God, which was a New York Times bestseller and a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. His other books include The Moral Animal: Evolutionary Psychology and Everyday Life, which The New York Times Book Review named one of the ten best books of 1994, and Nonzero, which Bill Clinton called “astonishing” and instructed White House staff members to read. In 2009 Wright was named by Foreign Policy magazine as one of the top 100 global thinkers. Wright has written for The Atlantic, The New Yorker, The New York Times Magazine, Foreign Policy, and the op-ed pages of The New York Times, The Washington Post, and The Financial Times. His books have been translated into more than a dozen languages, and his awards include the National Magazine Award for Essay and Criticism. Wright is the editor-in-chief of the websites Bloggingheads.tv and MeaningofLife.tv.

Copyright

Technology is becoming more accessible each and everyday, and as resources show up online, we are so easily tempted to display our findings to the general public. However not all resources are meant to be taken and shown. To children, I would explain it as telling one friend about my secret, and in the next hour the whole class knows the secret without my permission. When someone wants to share something, they do it expecting people to respects their work. In most cases people take things they like without thinking what the owner wants, and thus the vicious cycle of stealing work begins. Teachers may not share videos unless the video has a Creative Common license that allows the teacher to share. Copyright is serious a serious matter of the law and any citizen can be an offender against it, so it is important to educate students early on in order to prevent criminal activity in the classroom.

Here are two images and examples on how to properly cite them.

Elsmore, R. (2011, September 8). IMG_1624 [Online Image]. Retrieved from https://www.flickr.com/photos/robertelsmore/6198760025/in/photolist-arLgoR-DkJCwt-Com6zk-FQZWo1-CodZGy-8Uoogb-FQZW9J-EXRqZS-DkJBY4-FMqUNB-FThYTz-FQZWeU-FQZX3h-Ddssuz-9znnBZ-9zqmd9-Coe1io-HCFETw-DdsvhZ-DbaznE-arJgzj-8BsG8H-arNTpE-FThY1x-8UkiN2-arFySV-aRCgrT-J4xtgU-arJepY-zA2jtX-AxUdU6-DTYG8T-CMeHCK-Com7Xv-8UkiEn-Afiz4f-DkJBBc-zA2jZr-DbazGY-CMeKBK-qJFyif-AwUV8H-AxUehR-HCFFjm-hSAyxL-py4QWp-arFDgR-eRPsr6-arNU8b-qKtVW4

Wildlifepage. (2015, August 17). Arctic wolf pup howling [Online Image]. Retrieved from https://www.pinterest.com/pin/380272762264950027/

Welcome!

Hello everyone!

I just wanted to quickly introduce myself in order for you to understand the position I am coming from. My name is Kiren Sahota, and I am in my 5th year at Brock University, aiming to graduate from the concurrent education program at the end of this school year. My focus is in the junior and intermediate grades, and my subject areas of interest are French, history, and general science.

brocku.ca

 This Blog is concentrated around a technology course that I am currently enrolled in. I hope I can share my knowledge and help others enrich their understanding of 21st century learning

 

www.ues-wosc.com

To the students I will encounter this year, I hope you find the content I teach and post on here useful and easy to understand. Parents are welcome and highly encouraged to go over this page with their children in order for everyone to be on the same page.

My aim is to make every student feel accomplished. I want them to succeed in their goals and make them feel proud of their work. Passion is what will drive our world to change into something bigger than we can imagine!

And now a few words from the one and only Kid President on how you can make a POSITIVE change!

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4z7gDsSKUmU